General Motors (NYSE:GM) Price Target Raised to $61.00

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) had its target price increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $53.00 to $61.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the auto manufacturer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on GM. Bank of America reissued a buy rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Motors from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Nomura Securities upgraded shares of General Motors to a strong sell rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of General Motors in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Motors has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $55.47.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GM opened at $44.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $51.33 billion, a PE ratio of 5.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.42. General Motors has a 1 year low of $26.30 and a 1 year high of $50.50.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.39. General Motors had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. General Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.87%.

General Motors announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $44.11 per share, with a total value of $1,102,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other General Motors news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson acquired 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $44.11 per share, with a total value of $1,102,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $108,907.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,942.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Motors in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of General Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in General Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in General Motors by 56.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 626 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in General Motors in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

About General Motors

General Motors Company designs, builds, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automobile parts; and provide software-enabled services and subscriptions worldwide. The company operates through GM North America, GM International, Cruise, and GM Financial segments. It markets its vehicles primarily under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Baojun, and Wuling brand names.